Microsoft has long been concerned about students with academic email addresses buying cheap copies of Windows and Office for friends and family members with the hefty discounts they get with their academic email address. Now though the company has decided to crack down on the practice by offering a new version of Office 2010 instead.
The new suite, “Microsoft Office University 2010″ is only for those in colleges and universities and replaces the old Student edition. It you are a student or a member of staff with a .ac email address (as it’s impossible for Microsoft to tell one from another) you can buy the suite which is now on sale in the US for $99.
It contains Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access and doesn’t come with a product key. Instead it uses an online activation system where you have to log in with your student email address in order to get the software to work.
My concern is that if you are in the last year or two of your study this could present quite poor value for money as, as soon as you no longer have access to your .ac email address, and some universities can be very quick to rescind them, you will no longer be able to reactivate the product.
One some PCs that aren’t used for much this might be fine for a while, but eventually something will happen that will cause you to have to reinstall Windows, or you will upgrade to Windows 8, perhaps by buying a new computer. Suddenly then you’ll find the software you’ve paid for can’t be activated or used. In the new FAQs for the product Microsoft say…
Office University 2010 does not come with a product key. Your eligibility will be verified online before completing purchase. This product will not work without successful verification as you will not have a product key.
You will be required to verify your eligibility online to use this software. 1.Go to www.office.com/verify. 2.Sign in with your Windows Live ID or create one using any email address. 3.Provide your school email address, sign-in ID, or international student identity card (ISIC).
Once you pass verification, the online site displays the product key.
In many ways Office 2010 Home and Student, which is around the same price but can activate on up to three computers, offers much better value for money. It only includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote but these are the only apps most people need. While some people might miss Outlook, Microsoft’s free Windows Live Mail offers many of the same features and there are free alternatives to Publisher and Access available.
It is completely understandable for Microsoft to change their stance regards academic activations, but to not reduce the price of the product, leaving it the same as before but unusable after you leave college or university, is an unwelcome surprise. If you live in a country where the full version of Office 2010 Student is still on sale, and you’re considering buying it, I’d recommend you do so while you can. It is still available in the UK and other countries for a limited time.
Who is the new policy maker at Microsoft today? Does he gone without sense? If a student purchase this “Office University 2010″ copy and failed to activate after leaving college or university… The negative impact on his mind will be really bad to Microsoft. Think about his future carrier when he will work as an employee/ entrepreneur in any organization. He will try to purchase the substitute instead of Microsoft products. OEM copy or Student Copy, or may be a coupon value including any sort of giveaway offer… whatever the product is! A purchase or offer has made up! The user should have right to use it till the product life time……. Does “Office University 2010″ license say that you can’t use the product after leaving your college or university? If says that will be funny too! “Office 2003/Windows XP”, days will be completely gone very soon, support is ending. No one will visit Microsoft for support becoming end user. Most of the user already upgrades the product. Now if any one forced to Purchase any product due to wrong EULA, then the bad days are waiting for Microsoft.